Today GM announced that it will introduce changes to the Chevrolet
Volt to guard against fires like the ones that occurred after crash
tests last year.

New Volts will incorporate the changes, including steel
reinforcements, starting this month. The approximately 12,000 cars that
have already been built (about 8,000 have been sold so far) can also be
retrofitted at dealerships starting in February. The retrofits will be
part of a voluntary program, not an official product recall.

GM has also confirmed what caused a handful of Volt battery fires in
testing last year. A side-impact test caused part of the Volt's
structure to break into the battery casing, and a small coolant leak was
exacerbated when, as part of the test procedure, the battery was slowly
turned over. When the battery pack was upside down, the coolant leaked
onto a circuit board, which caused a short, and then the fully charged
battery caught fire.